High dioxin levels detected in Osaka sewage by-product

[John Visher <visherjc@crisscross.com>]

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm

November 17, 1999

                High dioxin levels detected in Osaka sewage by-product

                Yomiuri Shimbun

                NOSECHO?C Osaka -- High levels of dioxins have been
detected in
                dried human waste that was processed for use as manure
from dredges at a
                sewage disposal facility in Nosecho, Osaka Prefecture,
town government
                officials said Monday.

                According to the officials, dioxin levels of 240 to 610
picograms per gram of
                dried waste matter have been discovered at Nose Clean
Hill, a town-run
                sewage plant located about 3.4 kilometers east of the
site where an
                incinerator was formerly located. The incinerator was
shut down after
                extremely high levels of dioxins were detected in the
area.

                The contamination levels of the waste were about 24 to
61 times higher than
                at other facilities, they said.

                Although the officials claimed that they believed
agricultural products had not
                been contaminated, experts cited a necessity for a
nationwide survey of
                sewage disposal facilities, including an investigation
of where waste is being
                used as manure.

                The sewage plant in Nosecho processes and dries raw
sewage into manure,
                which is then distributed to the town's farms .

                When the commercial operator of the facility examined
contamination levels
                of gases emitted during the process of drying dredges in
December last year,
                they detected 610 picograms of dioxins per gram of
dredge, according to
                the officials.

                A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.

                Following the discovery, the town stopped distributing
manure manufactured
                at the plant in August.

                In their own inspection at the end of October, town
officials detected 240
                picograms of dioxins in the plant's product.

                Prof. Hideaki Miyata of Setsunan University, said that
dioxins that had been
                formed after chlorine ions in disinfectants used to
sterilize household toilets
                were combined with dibenzofurans, a substance contained
in water. If not,
                he said, dioxins in the raw sewage should have been
concentrated.

                "It is highly possible that sewage disposal facilities
around the country have
                the same problem," Miyata said. "The health of farmers
and safety of
                agricultural products are at risk if a large amount of
contaminated manure is
                used. "




             Copyright 1999 The Yomiuri Shimbun